Intercity Competition

TGV, the French Heavy Train
  • A TGV operates at 186 MPH, too slow to compete with airlines on longer intercity corridors.
  • The TGV requires its own right-of-way. It cannot run up the middle of an existing highway.
  • A TGV train cannot climb steep grades, requiring extensive earth works and tunneling in many corridors.
Conventional Noncontact Maglev
  • A conventional noncontact maglev system is fast -- 300 MPH. The maglift monorail, with its wrap-around- the-beam suspension and with a special version of the linear motor, is expected to be capable of 300 MPH in some corridors.
  • A conventional maglev system costs much more to install--approximately double the cost of the maglift.
  • A conventional maglev system is expensive to operate because it uses more power. Its guideway is active with components of the motor built in, making it more expensive to maintain. The magnets and cooling system which levitate the train are also expensive to maintain.
Conventional Noncontact Maglev Costs and Risks

Noncontact maglev systems face significant development costs and risks. The new US maglev concepts which have been proposed must address:

  • the unreliability of on-board cryogenic chillers
  • the tendency for superconducting magnets to suddenly lose their magnetism, causing the vehicle to crash to the guideway
  • the need for unproven FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic) post-tension cables and reinforcing bars (in place of steel) in their guideway beams
  • the health effect on passengers of the strong magnetic fields generated by superconducting magnets
  • dampening vehicle oscillations
  • the complex control systems needed for the in-guideway motors to make some trains accelerate, some cruise, and some decelerate on the same guideway at the same time
  • the inability of some maglev systems to navigate tight corners at high speed, preventing them from staying within many existing highway rights-of-way.

Scientific American published a study in its October, 1997, issue titled: "Maglev: Racing to Oblivion?" The article concluded "the main prospect for maglev's future, if any, may be as a high-tech tourist ride."

Accelerail

There are several trains designed to operate on existing rail tracks at speeds in the 125 MPH range. These are sometimes referred to as "accelerail".

  • At 125 to 150 MPH MPH, these are too slow to compete with airlines.
  • Accelerail is restricted to existing freight corridors and cannot reach many communities.